nounEtymology: Middle English epicicle, from Late Latin epicyclus, from Greek epikyklos, from epi- + kyklos circle — more at wheelDate: 14th century1.in Ptolemaic astronomy a circle in which a planet moves and which has a center that is itself carried around at the same time on the circumference of a larger circle
2. a process going on within a larger one
• epicyclicadjective

Epicycle — Ep i*cy cle, n. [L. epicyclus, Gr. ?; epi upon + ? circle. See {Cycle}.] 1. (Ptolemaic Astron.) A circle, whose center moves round in the circumference of a greater circle; or a small circle, whose center, being fixed in the deferent of a planet … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English